Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Jesus will give Optimus Prime the business! I'm also betting that David and his slingshot will take out all of the Ninja Turtles, easily! Moses vs. Ken? What??? Moses will murk that Barbie-loving fool, for real!

Seriously, this seems like a cool idea. Lord knows kids don't need to be playing with some of the toys they are making nowadays. The action figures have bigger guns than them fools off Boulevard and the dolls dress like they work for Pimpin' Ken. My only gripe is, damn...whats up with James Caviezel Jesus? Where's the bronze feet and wool-like hair?

Monday, July 30, 2007

I've never been to any of Detroit's public schools. But from what I've heard from the natives, they're pretty f'ed up. Granted, you can only believe so much of what people tell you, but I think I formed my own little opinion about Detroit's public school system when I read a story on ESPN.com where Detroit-native and current University of Oregon Ducks guard Tajuan Porter said "I didn't even know Oregon was a state" before choosing to go there on a hoops scholarship.

Among his proposed experiments is the idea that students be paid for maintaining good grades. He suggests that the students be paid what a McDonald's employee makes if they maintain a B average.

Well, that's just BRILLIANT! Pay the smart kids the same wages that a burger flipper earns. That's guaranteed to make them want to strive for more. Who knows, if they excell at extracurricular activities, they just might pull in the same money the nuggets-fryer gets.

C'mon. Really, how does this suggestion stand to improve anything. It will only lead to more disparaging things happening. Smart kids already get picked on for being nerds and what not, imagine the torture they'll have to go through when the bullies find out they got money too. What about the impact this can have on a child's psyche? They bust thier ass all year to get good grades, and get paid the same a person who most likely chose not to take education seriously? And what about the kids that are like me? The ones that didn't really like school all that much to begin with. Telling me that you'll pay me McDonald's-like wages for getting good grades will give even more incentive to dropout. Why go to school and earn minimum wage when I can just go work at UPS or something? They pay more. And what about the kids who don't get good grades, not only will they feel dumb, they'll feel dumb and broke. Dumb broke muthafuckas are known to cause trouble wherever they're at. So, ultimately, paying public school kids for getting good grades will make the situation worse.

What happened to just bribing or tricking kids into being smart by luring them in with prizes. I remember when I was in elementary school they used to give us Ronald McDonald coupons for getting good grades. Remember BOOK IT? When they gave you free pizza for reading books. Why can't they just do that? Hell, I'm cool with giving the kids XBOX's or something, but not money. Paying these kids for doing shit that they supposed to just do ain't the way to go.

Seeing Chamillionare's newvideos for the first time today inspired me to try something new. Since the media likes to make Hip Hop look like the cause of all of this countries ills, I figured I'd join the bandwagon and start giving you some kinda-sorta-maybe-possibly Hip Hop related news stories you may have missed. Because we all know, its very easy to miss out on the news when we have important issues like football players fighting dogs and home run kings using steroids dominating the headlines. Here's two for today, enjoy.

The L.A. Times is reporting that Dr. Hootan Roozrokh of San Francisco is facing charges after being accused of trying to speed up one of his patient's death so that he get his organs. He must have been influenced by the get money quotations Young Jeezy. Obviously Dr. Roozrokh heard Jeezy's multiple references to slanging O's and figured that he meant organs, not ounces. Dr. Roozrokh is expected to turn himself in later this week. Expect him to show up to the precint with copies of Trap or Die and Thug Motivation, rocking a Snowman t-shirt with a W.W.J.D. (What Would Jeezy Do?)wristband, crying "I heard it in a rap song."

CNN.com posts that Al Gore's son, Al Gore III, or as he's known on the streets AG3, has pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor drug possession after getting caught speeding in Cali with a bag of weed and pills last month. About four years ago he got caught with weed in Maryland after a cop pulled him over for not having his headlights on. While the plan is to have him complete a drug treatment program and have his plea removed from his record, expect him to blame his drug problems on Lil Wayne. Its obvious that AG3 has been bumping his mixtapes, especially that song "Dying" when Weezy name drops every drug under the sun. This shouldn't be surprising, after all, his mother Tipper is the woman who started the fight to censor music back in the 80's.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

(Good thing Mike Vick is a human who plays football. Because if he was a pit bull in dogfighting, he would have been dead 4 years ago.)

Mike Vick is looking more and more like how Caine was looking on Menace II Society when when Bill Duke was reminding him how he "done fucked up." I haven't said too much about this fiasco because I'm not a Vick hater or lover. I'm a Steelers fan, not a Falcons fan. I like the Dirty Birds and like to see them win, but, they ain't MY squad. And alot of you would probably be disappointed in knowing that I kinda have a Clinton Portis approach to this whole dogfighting thing. Plus, you already know that I don't have the best relationship with K-9's anyway.

But one thing I will say about all of this how its ironic that NIKE is choosing to postpone the release of the new Mike Vick sneakers. They were supposed to come out next month, but they've pushed back the release date until this controversy settles down.

Funny. Sounds like Nike is trying to take a stand against animal cruelty. I could have swore that sneakers are made of COWhide and PIGskin. On top of that, isn't this the same Nike that runs sweatshops and pays little Indonesian kids 5 cents a day to make sneakers that sell for $150? Damn, that's animal and human cruelty under the same roof.

The media and FEDs would like for all of us to think that this story and indictment is about illegal activity and animal cruelty. If thats the case, why don't they come down on the horse racing industry with an iron fist? I mean, they gamble and bet on horses the same way the dogfighters do, but for some reason its okay for them. Just like how dogfighters kill the dogs after they lose a fight or get injured badly, horse trainers kill horses after they fail to meet standards or get hurt. And according to thesepeople, horses stand to get hurt very frequently because from the way they are bred, their legs are too small to carry their massive frames. So running, let alone walking and standing is a deadly task for them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly condoning behavior like hanging and electrocuting dogs. If Vick and company were really doing that, man, that is some demented shit right there. Before they consider prison time as the best option, they might want to put Vick and his boys in therapy. Give them some crayons and construction paper and see what they come up with, because, man, they sound dangerous.

And to play lucifer's loophole (that's another way of saying devil's advocate, get it? get it? no? okay.), can it be said that Vick and them might have done us a good service in doing away with these dogs anyway. I mean, what can you do with a retired pitbull? You can't domesticate them. The news constantly reminds us what happens when pit bulls get near people, mainly children.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Contrary to popular belief, every artist in Atlanta or the South for that matter does not trap, snap, lean, rock, crank, SupaMan and/or SpiderMan dem hoes. Not that I have anything against any of that, because hell, if I have enough drinks in me and the music is right, I will snap, lean and rock with the best of them. This is coming from a dude who has bounced and ragtopped until I couldn't sweat anymore. But, I doubt that you will see me cranking Supaman's and SpiderMan's on dem hoes. I don't think I have the energy for all of that.

That being said, I went to a show last Friday (the 13th) at the Drunken Unicorn. It featured a crop of artists that you can label "underground." But I don't think that's fair, especially with how that word is just thrown around now. It seems like every person who doesn't have a song on the radio or television likes to call themselves "underground." Even if their "underground" ass is making music identical to what is currently getting played on the radio and television. {turning away from soapbox}

That reminds me of something else. Me and JBoogie were having a discussion about how sound and image plays a big role in how people are percieved. For instance, we both have a mutual friend who said they don't listen to Slum Village or Little Brother because "i dont like that backpacker, concious shit." Anyone that listens to Slum V. knows that they talk about sex and hoes just as much as Daz and Kurupt. Its just that SV rocks Nike Dunks instead of Chucks and they had vibey/lounging beats from the Dilla and Dwele's of the world, and not that G-Funk from Dr. Dre/Warren G/DJ Quik/Battlecat or whoever else you wanna throw in that mix. Anyone who listens to Little Brother knows that, yes, they got college degrees, but they ain't coming at you like Chuck-ONE.

I guess I'm saying all of this to say, um...I dunno.

Anyways, I wanted to share some pics and info from the show I went to last Friday. It kinda turned into an under, er, other-ground Atlanta star party on the low.

[photography sponsored by bad lighting, 3 cans of PBR and a crowded room]

GRIPPLYAS

This was my first time seeing this dude live, but I'd been peeping stuff on his myspace page over the last year or so. The shit is slum as hell (that's a good thing). For the sake of reference, I'll say he reminds me of Devin because of the way he blends humor and sex in his rhymes. He performed a handful of songs, none of them sounded identical to each other and none of them sounded like something you would hear from someone else. He has that vintage-beat machine sound that everybody seems to be trying to recreate nowadays. Right now people are talking about his song "GITYOASSONDAFLO."

PROTONSame thing here. Got familiar with thier stuff through Myspace about a year ago. They have this song called "Notice Me" that I really dig, I used have it as the profile song my Myspace page. They describe their sound as "Girl and Ghetto Shit." Why their brand of "Girls and Ghetto Shit" isn't being mass marketed, consumed and jumped on, I don't know. Guess it goes back to that Slum Village vs. Dogg Pound stuff I was saying earlier. But anyways, they also have some very original music you should check out.

YELAWOLF

Yelawolf isn't from Atlanta, he's from Gadsen, Alabama. But he pretty much lives/works in the A. I got hep to his stuff a couple years ago. I guess you could say that he was the headliner of the show. He ripped it and ended by performing his song "Run" with B.O.B. He is signed to Sony/Columbia, but he is still out in the streets doing shows at venues like this one and giving out mixtapes for free. I got a chance to hang with him and his people in Gadsen a couple months ago when they was shooting the video for his single "Kickin'." It felt like I was experiencing history or something. KP said "this is the realest video shoot I've been on since Outkast's 'Players Ball'." Everybody that sees or hears him for the first time get surprised because he's white and can rap, of course. Don't know if that's much of a compliment, but oh well. I thoroughly enjoy his stuff. You can download his mixtape at his Myspace page. Its dope. Not just just a bunch of songs thrown together, its actually themed from the cover art down to every track.

B.O.B.

Alot of you have probably heard of this dude already. He's from The DEC and reps it well. I got put on to him when I had to interview him for Ozone last year. He was so new at the time that we did the interview on his way to Atlantic Records where he would sign that day. He's dropped a couple mixtapes and he sends out like, 1,000 Myspace bulletins a day directing you to his page. If you've been, I assume you enjoyed most of what you heard. Alot of people are looking forward to this dude's album. Let's pray Atlantic doesn't give him the Saigon treatment.

MORE PICS

B.O.B. & Janelle Monae(shameless plug: I wrote the first nationally published articles on both of these artists [B.O.B. for Ozone, Janelle for VIBE])

B.O.B. & The Dreamer(Dreamer got some jammin' shit too, he does that "Grind" intro that Greg Street plays on his show. Look out for him.)

Zoo Atlanta & Gripplyaz(I don't care, Zoo Atlanta is one of the tightest monikers to ever come from the city.)

DJ Quiet Storm(Me and this dude go back. We've lost money together doing parties The Aquarium. Made money together doing parties at Club Mirage. Ran into each other going eastbound MARTA. Gave each other rides home. Now he DJ for the Atlanta Hawks, holds down a show on 88.5 FM every Saturday from 9 to 12 and spins at Slice, El Bar and a couple other spots. He is available for parties and club gigs at an affordable price.)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The latest issue of Blender Magazine has a featured called "100 Days That Changed Music". They claim that if you subtract the moments within their list that "you'd have no mp3s, no LSD, no hip-hop."

From what I could see, they did alot of thinking and research to pull it off. Which I respect completely. I've wrote a couple lists like that in my day, and let me tell you, its not the easiest thing in the world to do. However, after reading through the Blender list, I still didn't feel like I could relate to alot of it. I know the world is bigger than my living room, but still.

So...I decided to share a few days that I think music effected my life. Feel free to add and comment.

April 29th, 1995This is the day that I bought my first tape, with my own money. The album was Mobb Deep's The Infamous. I had plenty of Hip Hop tapes, albums, songs, etc in my possession by then, but most if not all of it was stuff I either dubbed or "borrowed" from older relatives or friends who had parents cool enough to buy cussing music for them. I bought the tape from Camelot Music at South Dekalb Mall. I was surprised that they let me buy it since it had the Advisory sticker on it. But I think this was around the time that people stopped caring about those stickers and just started selling explicit music to whoever had $10+ in their pocket. If you own this album, then you know that it was worth the money.

February 13th, 1996This is the day I went out and bought 2Pac's All Eyez On Me, the morning it came out. I got the jump on all of my friends at school because I was serving a 3-day suspension at the time. Which meant that I could catch the bus/train to the record store and get it before everyone got off from work/school. I took the long way home so that I could play Books 1 & 2 on my walkman. To this day, I still think that Book 1 is better. Care to argue Dre?

July 19th(?), 1985My dad took me to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see my first live concert. It was New Edition, Fat Boys and Whodini. I don't remember much besides the girls screaming when New Edition come out and the lights shutting down when Whodini did "Freaks Come Out at Night." I still have the souvenier banner and hat in storage somewhere.

November 9th, 1991Ok, I have a correction. This is actually the day that I went out and bought my first tape with my own money. I walked from my cousins apartment to Wal-Mart to buy Ice Cube's Death Certificate* album. He said he heard that the tapes were alot cheaper there than they were at the record store. Cool. I take my 11-year old ass in there, go to the Rap section waaaaaaay in the back, grab the tape, pay for it, and go back to my cousins' crib. When I get back, I rip the plastic off and pop it in the radio. For about 6-hours, we was listening to that tape playing TechmoBowl thinking that Cube had went clean and stopped cussing in his music. Then, one of my cousins older friends came over with his Ice Cube CD that he bought from the record store. When he started playing his, I realized that I had been bamboozled.

September 13, 1996I had fell asleep on the couch. For some reason, I was very tired that day. So tired, that I called in faking sick to my job (Cub Foods, bagger). I had a dream that a BET News Brief came on saying that "rapper Tupac Shakur is dead at age 25." Come to find out, it wasn't a dream, my sleepy ass just didn't realize what I had just saw. Pac had died shawty, on Friday the 13th at that. Later that night my homeboy Shomari called from his job washing dishes at Picadilly screaming "YOU HEARD ABOUT PAC!" Then he called again later on saying he was parked outside my house and had something that I really needed to hear. When I hopped in he turned the radio up loud as hell and a fie ass piano riff came blaring out the speakers. It was 2Pac & the Outlawz "Made Niggas" from the Supercop soundtrack. Me, him and my other friend Brandon rode down South Hairstion to Memorial Drive and up Candler Rd. playing that shit back-to-back-to-back. Mainly because we thought we owned the last 2Pac song ever to be recorded and released. Boy were we wrong.

The Entire Summer of 1997These aren't days that I'm proud of, but this is when I had my little klepto stage. Me and some friends had found a way to break the security plastic off of the tapes and CDs at Blockbuster Music. I like to think that I was more than just a common theif, I was stealing with a strategy. I was stealing stuff that I wasn't sure I wanted to spend money on, kinda like how downloading is now (damn, I guess that is stealing). I pretty much stole stuff by Bay Area artists not named E-40, Spice 1 or Too $hort and underground Memphis stuff that didn't fall from the Prophet Family tree. I wound up with some gems like 3XKrazy's Stackin Chips and the Nothing To Lose soundtrack.

August 19, 1999I was moving into my new dorm room for my 2nd year of college, and my new roomate had spent his summer in Texas. While we were organizing the room, he popped a naked CD into the radio and I heard a jumbled voice saying something like "bitch in the trunk." I didn't know what the hell he was playing, but then I heard organs and a high-pitched voice saying "hollluup, smoke som'men bitch." I asked him, if it was the new UGK and he said yeah. It actually wasn't but, this CD he had would go one to become known as the infamous Dirty Money bootleg. The sound quality was bad and alot of the songs sounded unfinished. But who cared, it was some new UGK, that shit was just gonna have to do. Later that month, my roomate felt like treating himself to the last of my Hawaiian Punch and honey buns while I was away. So I helped myself to his CD.

???? ??, 1987My father was taking me to school one morning and he was playing a song with some dude asking "How Ya Like Me Know?" I thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard in my life. Then he showed me the album cover and from that point on up to a couple year later, I swore Kool Moe Dee was the coolest mo-fo walking the planet.

July 4th, 1984The date might be a little off, but, all I know is that I got a whupping for touching my fathers record player. There was a bunch of people in the house at the time too. He was playing "Five Minutes of Funk" by Whodini, and I went touching the needle trying scratch like Jam Master Jay. I don't think I touched that record player in his presence again until I was well into my teens.

January 2nd, 1987Me and my family had just gotten back from visiting family in Pittsburgh for the holidays. I was unpacking my stuff in my room and some mystery tape ended up in my luggage. I put the tape in the deck and I remember Salt-N-Pepa's "Ill Take Your Man" coming out loud as hell. About a week later my cousin Keith called asking if I took his girlfriend's tape by mistake, I guess I did.

February 14th, 1998I got this girl to come over my house before my parents go home. I was gonna try something with her. I had a tape made and everything. It had some Jodeci, D'Angelo and shit on there. We got to like 1st or 2nd base and then fucking Mystikal came out of nowhere like THE MAN RIGHT CHEA!!!! The mood was ruined and the girl left soon after. Later that night, I found out why that shit happened. My little brother was just pushing record on the radio whenever something good came on, not thinking to see what was already in the deck.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

There's something about Nancy Grace's voice that just makes you have to stop when you're flipping channels. You know you're gonna get pissed by something she says or does, but you stop on her anyway. Prime example:

Last night, the TV stops on Nancy running her mouth. Beside her mug is a video of a child, sitting on a car floor, with someone's hand squishing her cheeks together. At first I thought it was a missing child alert. But I was wrong.

So, people are using X-pills for pacifiers now, great, juuuust great. Local authorities tracked down the idiots who filmed this video and put it up on youtube. They aren't completely sure if the child is high on X, so they are running tests on her. For now, the adults in the video are saying that they were simply telling the little girl to give blank expressions and roll her eyes in the back of her head--because they were bored from thier long road trip.

I really, deeply, sincerely hope that they aren't lying. I pray that they didn't give a 2-year old some X. I mean, the whole blunt smoking toddler thing was bad enough, but this? Damn.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Its been 21 years since the original Transformers movie hit the big screen, and in my opinion its still one of the greatest films ever made. I was 6 years old when I saw it, and I really think that was the first time a movie made me cry. Don't front, ya'll know ya'll was sobbing when Optimus Prime died. But damn, after looking back at it the other day, Megatron did get in that ass though.

I finally saw the new Michael Bay version after a week of long lines and sell outs. When I saw visuals from the film last year, I thought I was going to hate it. The Transformers' faces looked like crap and their bodies looked nothing like the cartoon/comics/toys that I had as a child. But, I must say, I'm glad I went to go see this movie.

The only have a couple gripes with the film. First is Megatron. The cartoon version of Megatron was one of the trillest bad guys ever, simply because he transformed into a gun. But in this new movie, he's some kind of UFO-fighter jet concoction.

Also, why didn't they let Starscream talk? Hearing him argue with Megatron and talk shit only to scream "RETREEEEAAAAT RETREEEEEAAAT!" was what made the cartoon enjoyable to me. Oh yeah, what happened to Devestator and the rest of the Constucticons? The only piece to him in the movie was Bonecrusher. That was kinda dissapointing. They left out Soundwave too. They tried to pass off some little radio as some kind of representation of him, but I heard the original was pissed.

But, one thing that I am happy the movie left out was lame-ass Hot Rod-Rodimus Prime. If you watched the clip earlier, you'll see he's the reason why Optimus Prime died in the first place. Speaking of Hot Rod, one thing this movie has on the original is that it didn't just drop new characters on you out of nowhere. I remember going to see the original as a child and thinking "who the hell is Hot Rod? who the hell is Cup? who the hell is Blur?" Come to find out, they actually did exist--in the Japanese version.

Overall, the movie was pretty dope. But, nothing will top the original.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Venus Williams won Wimbleton, again, this past weekend. I wasn't near my computer, so I couldn't blog on what I was feeling at the time. But right when I was gonna say what I was gonna say, my boy Walter Crunkite sent me a link to a story at ESPN.com written by Jemele Hill. She pretty much took the words out of my mouth, typed them, and got them published before I did.

Back in 2003, I tried to organize a conference call interview with the Williams sisters and Ms. Gibson. It almost happened. But, Ms. Gibson fell ill while we were scheduling it. Her people said to give her some time, so that she could get better. She passed soon after that.

Is it me* or does it seem like the news has turned from a credible source of information, into a place where people basically just say "pssst, guess what I heard?"

CNN has been reporting this story that Anti-depressant are the most prescribed drug in the U.S. Shied...I could have told you that.

Isn't weed the most bought and used drug on the street, to make people "feel better"? Yes, I think so. Have you ever seen a liquor store go out of business? Hell no. So what does that tell you? That we got some unhappy mo-fo's walking around looking for an escape. What better escape than something that is completely legal and comes from your doctor?

Why do media outlets expect {thinking} people to be surprised when news like this breaks. I mean damn, that's all you ever see advertisments for on television anyway, anti-depressants. I swear that if I was born yesterday dropped off in America, that there wasn't nothing to do here but get high, be sad and fuck. Because all I see are commercials for drugs promising me happy feelings and 4-hour erections (side effects may include: vomitingdiarrheachronicchestpainslaryngitisparanoiahalitosisrunnynoselossofhearingtheitissomeolnewshitandprobablywhateveryouboughtthisstufftocureinthe firstplace).

Friday, July 6, 2007

They say that today's youth are very advanced. I have to agree. Between the internet and the full-frontal culture that we live in today, these kids have probably seen and done more by age 5 than I did by the time i turned 12. We got toddlers hitting blunts and 9-year old stealing cars. Not to mention the many middle school kids I've talked to over the last couple years who never cease to amaze me with grown thoughts and conversations.

But right when I thought the children couldn't get any smarter, I was proven wrong. Earlier this week I was hanging out with a friend. We had plans to go eat and then go to a party down town. But, those plans were foiled right after dinner. They got a phone call from her brother saying that her neighbor's 3-year old was outside-it was almost midnight. Her heart dropped and she sped home to see what exactly was going on. When we got there, there was the baby, standing outside, with no shoes on. Her brother said he had been out there with the child for almost 20 minutes. When I saw her, all I could think was this.

My friend's brother said he banged on the door to see if anyone was home, but no one answered. He saw that the door was unlocked, looked inside and yelled, but no one came running.

We decided to take the 3-year old inside and bundle her up. When we asked her what was going on, the baby (who speaks very well) said that her mom was at work. She also said that her mom leaves her at home alone at night fairly often. I'm not sure if she was really understanding what was going on because 10 minutes later she was saying that both her mom and dad were in jail that night.

After contemplating what the best option was, my friend decided to call the police. She hesitated to do that in fear of the child being taken up by DFCS, but eventually figured that it was the best option. The police got there about 10 minutes later. Since they had guns and badges, it was safer for them to go ahead and go inside the abandoned home. I took a peek and saw grocery bags sprawled across the living room floor. Then, the cops opened another door and found the 3-year olds older brothers asleep. Neither one of them looked to be older than 10. So I'm looking at this scene like mommy must have dipped out and said: "ay, mama gotta go. if you get hungry, i left some lunch meat, cookies and potato chips. if you thirsty, i there's a 12-pack of Mountain Dew Code Red too. that's your favorite right? okay! mommy is leaving, byyyyyyye."

The cops said they found a debit card and an adress book in the bathroom. I guess mommy wasn't too bad, she had the decency to leave some money and important phone numbers for the little tykes.

About 20 minutes later, Mommy came speeding back into the parking lot and running up the stairs. She was greeted by one of the cops with "are you mommy? WHERE YOU BEEN!?!" She told the police that she "left her purse at her friends house and didn't know that she was gonna be gone that long." Only one response is needed for that.

The cops debated over taking the kids into custody and taking the mother to jail. But after being convinced that this might have been a one-time mistake, they elected not to.

I know I'm kind of making light of what is a obviously a serious situation, but damn. I kinda feel sorry for that 3-year old. At first, I just thought she was being a little bad ass by going outside. But my friend broke it down and insisted the child probably woke up in the middle of the night, looked for her mom, saw that she wasn't there, and went outside looking for her. Smart baby. Sad event.

Luckie Food Lounge is a new spot one block down from the Georgia Aquarium. They have been celebrating their grand opening this week and I checked it out for the first time last night. I was impressed.

This place is cool, literally. It has all of the amenities that you see in the IKEA book that you like, but damn sure know you ain't gonna buy. As soon as you walk in they have a huge fish tank with neon lights. It really looks like they went deep into the Pacific Ocean and just started snatching shit. They had the pretty fishes that you only see on National Geographic and they had some straight up coral reef up in the thing. There were a couple other things in the tank that I didn't know what to call, but I knew they were exotic and breathing.

Sitting by the tank makes for a good ice breaker too. You can sit and gawk at the fishes and talk about how pretty they are. Or you can do like my date and fake like you have a BS degree in Marine Biology and start randomly naming fishes to sound like you really know what you're talking about.

The menu is American. The only foriegn dishes are the wood oven baked pizzas and the sushi. Everything else is pretty basic; salad, burgers, sandwiches, soup, chicken fingers, salmon, etc. Its moderatly priced for the most part, so won't go broke trying get full. However, like anywhere else, the steaks cost, so use that info however you want. I myself was just hungry, so I didn't want to experiment. So I settled with their Classic Chicken Sandwich. It was pretty tasty, but, I know I prolly could have gotten something similar at Quiznos.

The drink menu was pretty long, but it was mostly wine. The beer selection had the usual suspects (Bud, Heinie, Corona, Miller), but they also had a couple brews from Colorado, Belgium and Great Britain. I was delighted to see Sweetwater, which is slowly becoming one of my favorites, but I chose to go with a Red Stripe (HOOORAY BEER!). Their bar looked to be pretty deep as well. They didn't have any Mad Dog or Erk & Jerk, but that's okay.

I usually don't get desserts and I wasn't going to tonight either. But, the waitress and her staff talked me into it. I got a dish they call Gelato Tasting. Its pretty much three different ice cream flavors (pistacio, brownie and hazelnut) in small bowls with mini cones. It tasted pretty damn good.

As far as the atmosphere goes, its pretty nice. It kinda makes you feel like you are in an aquarium with all of the light blue lights and plasma screens. The booth seats have very soft leather. The place is kinda big, but the way its built still makes it feel intimate.

But, a restaurants quality always comes down to its bathrooms, and this place passed the test with flying colors, literally. In the men's room they have screens above the stalls so you can watch ESPN as you handle your business. But the water faucets are the highlight. Excuse me if I sound like "I aint neva been nowhere nice" but, they were off the chain. They didnt have knobs, they had these touch sensitive squares were if you touch the red line the water comes out hotter, if you touch the blue line, it comes out colder. Then the water faucet itself has lights, so if the water is hot it lights up red, blue for cold and purple for lukewarm. Sorry, that shit impressed me. My date said (yes, we did talk about the bathroom's decor) that the ladies room had the same thing but they had stools and vanity mirrors to fix yourself up in.

Overall, I had a plesurable experience and will probably go back in the future. But, be warned, this isn't a place you can go to all the time, it will ruin the newness (is that a word?). So, just go everyonce in a while. And if you are going to go, go now! This place just opened this week and its gonna get popular pretty fast. So unless you like standing in lines with your stomach growling, go now!

PROS: Cool music and atmosphere. Dress code-they don't force you to be grown and sexy, but you can't go in there looking like you just rolled out of bed either. Fellas, all they ask is that you remove your hat, and keep it off.CONS: Wait staff is pleasant and prompt once they get going, but they take kinda long to see you after you are seated.WARNINGS: Fellas, keep it discreet. Fine females are in and out of the place and depending on where you are sitting you are going to see each and everyone, so don't look too too hard.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Not because there's nothing else on. Not because I let the remote stop on it. No. Its because I'm actually starting to enjoy it. Don't get carried away now. You're not gonna see me rocking Lisa Leslie jerseys or copping any Nike Air Swoops (although they caught my eye a couple times flipping through Eastbay back in the day).

But I actually enjoy watching it from time to time. Can you blame me? My beloved Atlanta Hawks have been losing for damn near 10 years and the NBA playoffs (especially the 2007 Finals) have been kinda lackluster lately after the first round. My favorite players keep getting hurt or suspended for fighting and I'm growing tired of hearing multi-millionares demand trades and cry like babies.

Sometimes I just want to see some ball (basket-, foot- and base-)getting played sans outside commentary about a player's criminal history, alleged steroid use and/or baby mama drama.

Its been a long journey though. I, like so many of my male counterparts never gave the ladies a chance. Yes, I was one of the many calling it the Why Nobody Bothers to Attend league. When the WNBA first started, I was actually looking forward to it, but for the wrong reasons. I just wanted to see some women running, thinking it was gonna be like seeing Pamela Anderson on Baywatch. I wanted to see some eye candy. I had grown tired of hearing my mom talk about how fine she thought Scottie Pippen was or listening to my aunt go on and on about how cute Isiah Thomas looked in his bootyshorts.

Needless to say, I was disappointed. The WNBA women looked like somedudes. Hardly any of them had breasticles and most of them had cornrows, looking like they was fresh outta Alto. Their marketing department tried to convince us that Lisa Leslie was pretty, but I mean, she aiiiiighht. Really, the only thing I found REMOTELY attractive about the WNBA was Gina Thompson's lips. Plus, none of them could dunk (sorry, that Lisa Leslie attempt was not a dunk, that was more like a strong layup).

But last season, I caught some of the games, and watched the WNBA playoffs at length, and I was impressed. I always knew that we had some female ballers out there. I saw plenty dudes get served at the old Run N' Shoot by girls and I remember Chamique Holdsclaw balling at Tennessee and landing the cover of SLAM years ago. But man, the 2006 WNBA Playoffs was very entertaining.

So, I started watching some games at the start of this season, and I'm still impressed (though I'm disappointed to see Chamique retired). Last night, I was watching the Sparks vs. Storm game and man, I swear I saw this white girl named Lauren Jackson playing like the female version of Tim Duncan. She was unstoppable!

The games move much faster than the NBA games too. From what I see, they don't do that 1997 Utah Jazz/2003 San Antonio Spurs shit where they just eat up the clock. They don't do that 1997/2005 Miami Heat shit when they just throw the ball down low and pound and pound and pound. No. These chicks run and gun, and take high percentage shots in the process. The don't slow the game down with zone defenses or stop the clock by flopping, trying to pass it off as "good defense." THEY PLAY BALL! And they go hard every play.

They don't oversell you on alot of BS either. You're not gonna be bombarded with Eva Longoria sitting courtside. You don't have to sit through corny-ass intro music from the Pussycat Dolls either.

If Atlanta had a WNBA franchise, I'd support it. I mean, pro basketball in the summer time? What more can you ask for? Its better than baseball.

So, if you haven't already, give the ladies a chance. Ladies, I urge you to support them. Fellas, I insist you do the same. Now, I gotta keep it real. They haven't made much improvement in the looks catagory. Sue Bird is kinda cute and soon-to-be pro Candice Parker is fine as hell, but that's about it.

I was riding around with a friend the other day and they was playing a song I never heard before. It had Badu on the hook, and she was sounding great as usual. But then, a rapper came on. It took me a minute to recognize his voice. I knew it was one that knew and respected, but one that I either hadn't heard in a while or hadn't heard alot from over the last few months to be like OH OKAY! THIS MUST BE THAT NEW WASSHISNAME...

After making the wrong guesstimation, my friend informed me that it was Pharoahe Monch. Cool. Then the next song came on and just like its title, it sounded "So Good." Then, the next track was a three part song about Monch killing his best friend after asking him "why did you fuck my wife, man?" The songs that followed were nothing short of brilliant. Listening to it reminded me of how much I dug his Internal Affairs album (DAMN! Rawkus had a fucking squad back then!). I started having flashbacks of my sophomore year in college, smoking weed and drinking E&J in my homeboys' trailer off campus before heading off to the Student Center party.

Ahhhh...

The Student Center parties! That got me the thinking about another CD I came across not to long ago. I was assigned to write a review on Pastor Troy's new album Tool Muzik. Honestly, I didn't really know what to expect, because, I didn't really feel what Troy had been making over the last few years. I'm not saying that he fell off or anything like that, but, the albums just didn't pump my adrenaline like the plethora of music he was dropping at the turnofthecentury. But man, when I popped the CD in, shiiiiieed, I wounded up enjoying every minute of it. Well, not every minute, about 7:46 of it I could have done without. But overall, it was tight. Its got that real Troy spirit all over it. You know, the "holy bible/assault rifle" Troy. It made me go dig up my We Ready: I Declare War CD and jump around the crib like I was 19 all over again. Now, if I could only find my "I Am DSGB" CD, I've been feenin' to hear the joint when he was spitting over the Goldberg beat (my wrestling fans know what I'm talking about).

I don't know how old you were in 1999, and I don't know how old you are now. But, if you want to be reminded about why you like and accept Hip Hop music in all of its complex forms, I suggest that you GET THE FUCK UP!! and make the ETERNAL YARD DASH to go pick up Pharoahe's new album Desire, and Troy's new album Tool Muziq. Both albums will provide you with a wide spectrum of thoughts from brain food to headbussin' and VICE VERSA.

btw: isn't it dope to see how these two artists (and a few others) still put thought into their album titles and artwork?

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Well, today is July 3rd. The day that Atlantic Records has been waiting on. The day that is supposed to belong to the most anticipated rap release of 2007. Yes, today Clifford Harris Jr.'s fifth solo album T.I. vs. T.I.P. finally hit shelves.

Too bad it hit the internet last week and has been getting shitted on in various chat room forums and hip hop websites ever since. I even heard that one of the biggest rap mags (which he has graced the cover of thrice) gave it a Mediocre rating--ouch! I've listened to it myself, and I tend to agree, its far from his best stuff. I've never been the BIGGEST T.I. fan per se, but I've liked most of his stuff over the years since I'm Serious. I ain't gonna lie, I had to warm up to him like everyone else after that "King of the South" stuff back in '01. I was DJing college parties around that time I was always like "damn, why are these freshmen so goo goo gaa gaa, over this dude?" But after my homeboy Dre (whose opinion I deeply respect) crowned him "his new nigga" I had to give buddy a chance. From there Cliff started dropping those In Da Streetz CDs, and I have to say. I was impressed from that point on up until last year.

When Cliff dropped KING. last year, everybody was going crazy over the shit. It went gold in a week, and he had a movie coming out at the same time. Honestly, to this day, I think 250,000 mah fuckas went out buying that shit becuase they thought it was the ATL soundtrack, but who am I?

Anyways, I listened to the KING. album, and it was good, very good. But, when everybody started crowning him the KING of rap literally, I was like damn really? I guess I had a hard time looking at dude as a king, because I met him when he was a pauper. I met him when he running with KP, doing cameos in Youngbloodz videos and dropping verses on Shaft soundtracks and P.A. albums. I met him when he was freestyling on 97.5 against I-20. I met him when he was posted up in Buckhead on Saturday night, humbly insisting that I'd meet his homeboys P$C, because they are on his album too. I met him when he was doing shows for free at Fort Valley State University's spring concert. I don't know, but I still have a hard time referring to him as a king of anysort, but not just because of the reasons I just rattled off, but because....really, who else is around to challenge for the crown?

I kinda look at Cliff as the Lennox Lewis of this rap shit. Here's what I mean:

When Lennox started making a name for himself in the early 90's as a professional boxer. He wasn't very high on the totem pole. You still had guys like Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Foreman and a couple other respectable talents in the sport. So, you had a guy like Lennox stuck in the middle. Coming up in a era where boxing was past its prime with Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Foreman (again) and a few other cats--but looking pretty good for the next few years with Holyfield an'nem. Lennox didnt fight Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe or Foreman at their peaks though. He beat Tyson when he was on his last leg professionally and personally. He had a draw with old ass Holyfield in 99 and barely beat him eight months later. He never fought Bowe. One, because Bowe didnt grant him a shot after Lennox challenged him on live on the air after he upset Holyfield in '92 and the WBC stripped Bowe of the title, practically handing it to Lewis. And two, because Bowe wound up going to prison, fighting for entirely different reasons {laugh track}. Lewis didnt fight Foreman either. Lewis' best known performances are against Razor Ruddock (remember him?) and Tony Tucker (who?).

Cliff also came up at time when "greats" were gone, but the future was looking pretty decent. Big and Pac were dead. KRS and Kane weren't dropping relevant material. But, you had Nas and Jay battling, Eminem was wrecking shop while Jadakiss and Luda were making a little noise. But still, Cliff, like Lennox, wasnt very high on the totem pole. So, in essence, none of the big dogs were paying him toooo much attention. But then, your boy started winning a couple rounds. Dropping mixtapes, getting industry co-signs from Diddy, Pharell and Kanye (who were just producers at the time). Then, he scored a sizeable knock out against Lil Flip, who at the time was a pretty formidable contender, but he was no heavyweight.

At this stage, both would also find out what it was like to be put on their backs. Lennox was knocked out by Oliver McCall in '94, while T.I. was manhandled by Ludacris in '04 on Young Buck's "Stomp."

However, both fighters would bounce back, but with questionable victories. Lennox came back, beat a couple fighters to get some titles. But one of his victories was overshadowed when his opponent (McCall again), pretty much gave up halfway through the fight and started crying in the ring. T.I. bounced back with his Urban Legend album, which, track for track, in my opinion was just about equal to his oppenent, Ludacris', Red Light District album. However, some would say the sucess of Urban Legend was due to T.I. drastically switching his sparring style to radio friendly.

After those victories is when it starts to get really shaky. At this time, both men, in my opinion were almost handed their crowns. Not discounting any hard work and sacrifices they made, but, they were handed crowns in a time where there weren't that many contenders to begin with. People started saying that Lennox was one of the best ever, because he was dominating his opponents. Same was being said about T.I., especially when KING. went gold in one week. But really, where was the competition? Like I stated earlier, Lennox was beating "the greats of his era" when they were broken down. When T.I. got his crown, Kane was too old (hell, didn't T.I. perform in a tribute to him on VH1?) and Jay was retired. But, both men, happy to be bestowed their honors, carried their titles with class and dignity.

But, you know there had to be a knockout punch waiting in the wings.

Right when Lennox was getting comfortable at the top, he got knocked out by Hasim Rahman. And now, T.I., with his disapointing T.I. vs. T.I.P album is experiencing a knockout (we wont officially know until next week when those all-important "first week numbers" come).

But, if history is on T.I.'s side, and I hope it is, he will regain his musical glory. See, no one really remembers Lennox losing to Rahman because he regained his title in a rematch seven months later and left a baseball-sized knot on Rahman's head in the process. This must mean that Cliff is gonna reappear in December and drop the fiest album he is humanly capable of. Plus, judging from his patterns, Cliff's next album has to be good.

Cliff is already on the right path to redemption though, in fact he's ahead of it. Lennox waited until his rematch with Rahman to pick a fight on national TV and generate some controversy. But Cliff, he got in a fight at Kevin Liles' brunch BEFORE losing his fight.